Our first two days hiking in Vals were amazing (you can see the photos here and here). Beautiful views, lakes, farms, marmots… It was a very nice return to the mountains after the long rainy spring. As the previous days left us with a very good feeling, we decided to push ourselves a bit more and do something more challenging the last day. After studying carefully the map with the different hiking routes in the valley, we chose to hike to Patnaulpass, a mountain pass at 2773m with views of the neighbor valley. And if the weather allowed us, then we would hike from there to the summit of Faltschonhorn, at 3022m.

The plan sounded great the previous night. But when we woke up, we saw low clouds covering the whole valley. That didn’t discourage us. I love foggy days. We put on our boots, took our backpacks and, after buying provisions in the Sommermarkt in Vals (delicious regional cheese, bread and raspberry cake), we went to the gondola that took us to Gadastatt and saved us the first 600m of ascension.

The first part of the route was easy. We walked through the green slopes of the mountain and crossed little creeks with beautiful waterfalls until we reached the alpine cow farm Leisalp. By then, we were already walking between the low fog in the valley and the clouds above us, so we could already see the mountains at the other side of the valley. Watching the clouds dance around the massive peaks in front of us was mesmerizing! As we continued ascending, we started to find more and bigger snow patches and ice and the temperature started to drop. After an exhausting and long ascension, we finally reached Patnaulpass, where we had a brief lunch at 5º while deciding if it would be worth to continue to the summit. Eventually, we didn’t. The clouds were low and there wasn’t any view from the top and there was more snow in the final part of the trail. So we went down to Gadastatt again, tired but happy!

Here are some photos I took during this hike. As you can see in this and the previous posts, Vals is a very special place in Switzerland and is a truly hidden gem! Now I dream to visit this magical place again soon!

9 Comments

  1. What a gorgeous collection! The one with the green slope and the tiny cabin gives you a real sense of scale!

    • mercedescatalan

      Thanks a million, Snow! The summer fog can be so dramatic and so beautiful! Specially in this kind of valley 🙂 I loved the view of the tiny cabins in the fog, with all the slope covered in tiny alpine flowers. It was like travelling back in time!
      Have a great week!

  2. I love fog and clouds and you captured them so well. And, the little lamb–didn’t you want to take him home. So cute! Great post!!

    • mercedescatalan

      Thanks a mil, Anne!! I love these foggy days…. One would think that it’s not a day for photos… but I find it so mesmerizing in the mountains!! And the colors and the light are so special! I wish I had more dramatic days like this one… I think they are more challenging and inspiring!

  3. Mystical! I think the fog enhances the beauty of Vals. Though I love the landscape, the photo that grabs my attention is the cute lamb 😛

    • mercedescatalan

      Thanks a lot, Len!! The little lamb also got all my attention, hehehe! It was so cute and it didn’t move at all while I took the photo… So small and it already knew how to pose! 🙂

      • Natural talent! A future super-model among sheeps 🙂

        • mercedescatalan

          Hehehe there’s something magical about finding these cute animals while traveling or hiking!! And Switzerland is full of them, so there’s fun for me every weekend 🙂 (Maybe I should start an IG page or something like that just for these cuties, hehehe)

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